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Compost - How to Compost, Making Compost, Why Compost, Compost Ingredients

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 2 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

Ranked #1311 in How-To, #12925 overall

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Compost & Composting - Go Green for your soil, garden & environment

 

Compost Happens with or without you.  But, if you want to learn how you can make it better, faster, and easier, how it can help you in your garden, and how you can help the Earth and your environment, Read On!

This picture of a Swallowtail on a Daylily was taken by fizgig777 & posted here on GardenWeb.com.  Just an example of the Beautiful & Good things that happen when you add compost to your soil.

Compost Basics 

Compost happens when nitrogen, carbon, air and moisture feed microbes that digest and decompose stuff into compost.

What is compost good for? To add to your garden, your houseplants - or just back to the ground.

Nitrogen - a.k.a. "greens" - food & green plant scraps
Carbon - a.k.a. "browns" - leaves, paper products

Suggested ratio is about 3:1 Brown/Carbon :to: Green/Nitrogen

Nothing is all nitrogen or all carbon - but the things in the list below have significantly more of one than the other.

How long does the "stuff" take to decompose into compost? That depends. [famous lawyer answer] Depends on container, size of "pile", green/brown ratio, moisture content, amount/activity level of microbes.

REMEMBER: Especially if you have a garden - All of these nutrients came out of the ground to make the plant. If you don't compost, how will it get back into the ground?

What is Your Relationship to Compost? 

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Vote for your Favorite Compost Ingredients! 

201 items for your compost pile

Tell us what you love adding to your compost pile the most - or what you can see yourself adding to most to your soon-to-be compost pile! [If you like this list, thank Marion Owen @ Plantea.com for inspiring & creating an awesome one (from which we've borrowed some items).] If you don't have a compost pile yet, how many of these things do you add to a landfill everyday that could be nourishing your Earth tomorrow?

#1

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Used Coffee Grounds - from a shop

3 points

#2

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Vegetable Trimmings/Scraps

3 points

#3

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Used Coffee Grounds - from your home

3 points

#4

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Leaves - whole

2 points

#5

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Fruit Trimmings/Scraps

2 points

#6

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Leaves - shredded

2 points

#7

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Halloween Pumpkins

2 points

#8

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Plants from your/others' garden - that have died

(but not diseased)2 points

#9

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Grass clippings - from mowing the lawn

2 points

#10

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Deadhead & pruning plant trimmings

2 points

#11

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Eggshells

2 points

#12

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Spent annuals

2 points

#13

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Newspaper - shredded, balled up, or as is

2 points

#14

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Napkins/paper towels

1 point

#15

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Cereal Boxes

1 point

#16

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Clementines, Oranges, Pears, Apples, Cantaloupes

that got too mushy in fridge before you got around more...1 point

#17

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Tomatoes, Cucumers, Peppers, Zucchini, Celery, Lettuce

that got too mushy before you got around to eating more...1 point

#18

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Moldy stuff in fridge that you're finally cleaning out

(that do NOT include dairy or meat)1 point

#19

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Beer

1 point

#20

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Dead bugs

1 point

#21

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Paper towel & toilet paper "tubes"

1 point

#22

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Stale pastries

1 point

#23

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A failed veggie side-dish attempt

(that no one will eat)1 point

#24

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Hard, left-over rice from take-out Chinese food

1 point

#25

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BBQ & other Sauces that a past their expiration date

1 point

#26

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Fall Potted Mums that are not being planted

1 point

#27

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Crab apples

1 point

#28

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Nut shells

1 point

#29

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Orange, clementine, mango & melon peels

1 point

#30

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Scrap paper

1 point

#31

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Junk mail

(but not glossies)1 point

#32

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Used Envelopes

(but not windows)1 point

#33

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uneaten extra 1/2 serving at the bottom of the oatmeal pot

1 point

#34

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left-over coffee in the coffee pot

1 point

#35

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used tea bags or tea leaves

1 point

#36

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weeds - without seeds

1 point

#37

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Blood meal (dried blood)

0 points

#38

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Alfalfa pellets

0 points

#39

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Hay

0 points

#40

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Straw

0 points

#41

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Human Urine

0 points

#42

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Flat Soda

0 points

#43

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Winter crop harvests

0 points

#44

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Kleenex/tissues

0 points

#45

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Popcorn - bottom of the bowl

0 points

#46

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Old spices & herbs

0 points

#47

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Frozen veggies - with freezer burn

0 points

#48

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1 year old frozen left-overs

(without meat or dairy)0 points

#49

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dog fur

0 points

#50

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hair brush & tub drain junk

0 points

#51

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sawdust

(but not tons - takes a long time to break down)0 points

#52

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dryer lint

(but not dryer fabric sheets)0 points

#53

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Used food/Christmas shopping lists

0 points

#54

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pine needles

0 points

#55

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seaweed & kelp

0 points

#56

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matches (used)

0 points

#57

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rabbit, hamster, guinea pig cage cleanouts

(but not dog or cat droppings)0 points

#58

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bird cage cleanouts

0 points

#59

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houseplants past their prime

0 points

#60

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cut flower arrangements that should have been tossed already

0 points

#61

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old jelly, jams and chutneys that got moldy before you finished the jar

0 points

#62

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moldy apple sauce from the huge unfinished jar

0 points

#63

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kids' lunch box left overs

(1/2 eaten pbj sandwiches, etc.)0 points

#64

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left-over breakfast toast scraps

0 points

#65

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the 2 remaining pancakes

0 points

#66

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the take-home bags of . . .

left-over spaghetti, mash pototatoes & gravy, more...0 points

#67

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mushy onions

0 points

#68

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squishy potatoes

0 points

#69

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water/broth from steamed/boiled veggies

0 points

#70

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"juices" from canned veggies

0 points

#71

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"heavy" or "lite" syrup from canned fruit

(the little that you didn't pour onto your yogurt more...0 points

#72

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the remaining peanut-butter in the jar

(because you're going on a diet)0 points

#73

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stale cookies

0 points

#74

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mushy, brown bananas

(that would be great in a banana nut bread, but no more...0 points

#75

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the gift of a fruitcake

(because no one is ever really going to eat it - a more...0 points

#76

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vacuum cleaner contents

0 points

#77

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brown shopping bags

0 points

#78

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cardboard boxes

(big ones, shipping boxes)0 points

#79

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pressed board boxes

(that're used for packaging toothpaste, instant ri more...0 points

#80

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Holey underwear & socks

0 points

#81

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electric pencil sharpener empty-ings

0 points

#82

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pickle juice

0 points

#83

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dust bunnies

0 points

#84

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watermelon rinds

0 points

#85

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apple cores

0 points

#86

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the sugar & flour that falls onto the table & floors when making cookies

0 points

#87

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soggy cereal left-overs

0 points

#88

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stale chips & crackers

0 points

#89

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hummus gone bad

0 points

#90

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guacamole turned brown

0 points

#91

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that exotic new veggie that you never got around to making

0 points

#92

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the now-moldy bumper from the bumper crop of tomotoes

0 points

#93

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the now slimy fresh mint & parsley that you never did get around to using in your salad

0 points

#94

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toe-nail & finger-nail clippings

0 points

#95

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children's homework & schoolwork papers

(that just can't all be kept in the sentimental &q more...0 points

#96

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notices from school & PTA

0 points

#97

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fliers from the Home Owners' Assoc, & local vendors that are stuck in the door

0 points

#98

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store receipts

0 points

#99

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used To Do lists

0 points

#100

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Shreds from the home/office Shredder

0 points

#101

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Used coffee grounds from the office

0 points

#102

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coffee filters

0 points

#103

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cat hair

0 points

#104

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sewing & quilting fabric scraps & thread snips

0 points

#105

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absolutely worn-out cotton rags

0 points

#106

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moth-eaten wool sweaters

0 points

#107

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used coloring books

0 points

#108

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old Halloween candy - especially the kind that no one likes

0 points

#109

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hard-as-a-rock Easter jelly beans

0 points

#110

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Valentine's Day chocolate box candies that you don't like

0 points

#111

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paper mache projects that didn't quite turn out as planned

0 points

#112

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IRS tax return forms that you won't use because you have a software program or CPA

0 points

#113

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moldy bottom of the pasta sauce jar

0 points

#114

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old baking soda (that was used to deoderize the fridge)

0 points

#115

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old wine you'll never drink

0 points

#116

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hardened, gongealed drink mix powders

0 points

#117

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every pressed board item (e.g. boxes, wrappings) that came out of the bathroom closet & draws that you finally decluttered

0 points

#118

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ugly grapes

0 points

#119

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Christmas cards in February

0 points

#120

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all those "page 2 of 2" that you printer spits out that has nothing on it

0 points

#121

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any printed item along the line of "Go Yankees"

[See my Boston Red Sox - It's About Faith Squidoo more...0 points

#122

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the little paper peelings that teenagers create when

they're talking on the phone & peel the label more...0 points

#123

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assembly instructions after you've put the thing together

0 points

#124

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puzzles that are missing a few pieces

and so no one will actually do them anymore0 points

#125

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completed Sudoku & Crossword puzzle books

0 points

#126

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false propaganda letters from your opposing political party

0 points

#127

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rhubarb leaves

0 points

#128

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beet tops

0 points

#129

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hard-as-a-rock marshmallows

0 points

#130

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paper wrapper of the Ream of Paper

from your favorite office supplies store0 points

#131

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old recipe clippings

for recipes that you'll never make0 points

#132

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used dirt from container plants

e.e. summer window box annuals & container tom more...0 points

#133

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green tomatoes that are too small to transform

into Fried Green Tomatoes0 points

#134

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moldy bread

0 points

#135

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2-day-old bagels & donuts

that're past the dunking stage0 points

#136

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potato & carrot peelings

0 points

#137

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now-irrelevant business cards

0 points

#138

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pear stems & cores

0 points

#139

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pressed-board boxes that 12-packs of soda come in

0 points

#140

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pint & half-gallon ice cream containers

0 points

#141

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SAT vocabulary index cards

(after the tests ;)0 points

#142

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grocery store sales inserts in the newspapers

0 points

#143

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all of the paper bills that you pay online anyway

(that you've been meaning to put on paperless emai more...0 points

#144

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white rice, because you're going to replace it

with brown rice because white rice is so bad for y more...0 points

#145

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cotton balls that you used to clean the dog's ears

(but not the ones that have makeup remover on them more...0 points

#146

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empty matchbooks

0 points

#147

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cardboard egg cartons

(but not styrofoam ones)0 points

#148

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the cardboard boxes that the dryer sheets come in

(but not the dryer sheets themselves)0 points

#149

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the spent blooms from the Butterfly Bush

0 points

#150

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OPL - other people's leaves

0 points

#151

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mistletoe after Christmas

0 points

#152

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after-dinner plate scrapings

(but not meat or dairy)0 points

#153

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stale left-over dinner rolls

(if you're not going to get around to making homem more...0 points

#154

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construction paper scraps

0 points

#155

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the dust-covered dried flower arrangement

in the living room, which is also bad feng shui0 points

#156

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all that tissue paper in the Christmas gift boxes

(if you're not going to save it for future gift or more...0 points

#157

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small twigs

(but only small amounts)0 points

#158

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pressed board that almost every child's toy comes

intricately tied to with those million darn plasti more...